Experiences of HIV/STD Providers in New York State During Hurricane Sandy: Strengths, Challenges, and Recommendations.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess strengths and challenges experienced by HIV/STD providers in providing care during the response to Hurricane Sandy (Sandy) in New York State, and their recommendations for future preparedness.

Methods: A mixed methods approach, including a focus group (n = 3), interviews (n = 3), and survey (n = 31) of HIV/STD providers, was used. Key words identified by means of open coding methodology from collected data were organized into strengths, challenges, and recommendations and then grouped into federal and study-associated preparedness capabilities.

Salmonella and the changing environment: systematic review using New York State as a model.

Salmonella is a public health concern, for which a complex interplay between host, agent, and environment exists. An improved understanding of causal processes can be used to better gauge the causes and trajectory of Salmonella in a changing environment. This would be useful in determining the impact of climate change on the New York State (NYS) environment, the effect of climate change on Salmonella in NYS, factors contributing to Salmonella vulnerability in humans, and aspects of climate change and Salmonella which necessitate further research.

Superstorm Sandy's impact on the provision of WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) services in New York State.

Objective: Services provided by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) were interrupted in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy struck New York State (NYS). The present study evaluates the impact on WIC providers.

Design: A focus group, telephone interviews and anonymous online survey were conducted.

Superstorm Sandy: Emergency management staff perceptions of impact and recommendations for future preparedness, New York State.

Objective: This study collected and summarized feedback from staff at the New York State (NYS) Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and three county OEMs within NYS to understand lessons learned from the 2012 Superstorm Sandy.

Design: Cross-sectional qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Subjects, Participants: One staff person from each identified critical role from the state and county OEMs who were still employed in the roles identified.

New York State Public Health System Response to Hurricane Sandy: An Analysis of Survey Feedback.

Objective: The objective was to provide a broad spectrum of New York State and local public health staff the opportunity to contribute anonymous feedback on their own and their agencies' preparedness and response to Hurricane Sandy, perceived challenges, and recommendations for preparedness improvement.

Methods: In 2015, 2 years after Hurricane Sandy, public health staff who worked on Hurricane Sandy response were identified and were provided a link to the anonymous survey. Quantitative analyses were used for survey ratings and qualitative content analyses were used for open-ended questions.

New York State Public Health System Response to Hurricane Sandy: Lessons From the Field.

Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct interviews with public health staff who responded to Hurricane Sandy and to analyze their feedback to assess response strengths and challenges and recommend improvements for future disaster preparedness and response.

Methods: Qualitative analysis was conducted of information from individual confidential interviews with 35 staff from 3 local health departments in New York State (NYS) impacted by Hurricane Sandy and the NYS Department of Health. Staff were asked about their experiences during Hurricane Sandy and their recommendations for improvements.

New York State Public Health System Response to Hurricane Sandy: An Analysis of Emergency Reports.

Objective: Analyzing Hurricane Sandy emergency reports to assess the New York State (NYS) public health system response will help inform and improve future disaster preparedness and response.

Methods: Qualitative analysis of NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH) and Nassau and Suffolk County local health department (LHD) emergency reports was conducted. Three after-action reports and 48 situation reports were reviewed, grouped by key words and sorted into 16 Public Health Preparedness Capabilities.

Public Health Climate Change Adaptation Planning Using Stakeholder Feedback.

Context: Public health climate change adaptation planning is an urgent priority requiring stakeholder feedback. The 10 Essential Public Health Services can be applied to adaptation activities.

Objective: To develop a state health department climate and health adaptation plan as informed by stakeholder feedback.

An evidence-based public health approach to climate change adaptation.

Background: Public health is committed to evidence-based practice, yet there has been minimal discussion of how to apply an evidence-based practice framework to climate change adaptation.

Objectives: Our goal was to review the literature on evidence-based public health (EBPH), to determine whether it can be applied to climate change adaptation, and to consider how emphasizing evidence-based practice may influence research and practice decisions related to public health adaptation to climate change.

Methods: We conducted a substantive review of EBPH, identified a consensus EBPH framework, and modified it to support an EBPH approach to climate change adaptation.

Integrating public health education in a public health practice setting: the experience of the School of Public Health, University at Albany and the New York State Department of Health.

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) has a long history of biomedical research, public health policy and program development, peer-reviewed scholarship, and teaching. Its evolution as an academic health department advanced significantly when the University at Albany and DOH formed the School of Public Health Sciences in 1985 to further develop these functions while formally training the next generation of public health workers. The School, renamed in 1990 as the School of Public Health (SPH), was initially located within the DOH with its staff as the founding faculty.

Guillain-Barré syndrome surveillance during National Influenza Vaccination Campaign, New York, U.S.A., 2009.

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) collected information about hospitalized patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) during October 2009-May 2010, statewide (excluding New York City), to examine a possible relationship with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination. NYSDOH established a Clinical Network of neurologists and 150 hospital neurology units. Hospital discharge data from the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) were used to evaluate completeness of reporting from the Clinical Network.

State requirements for rabies-related animal control.

Objective: Rabies postexposure prophylaxis is an important secondary prevention step but is unnecessary if the exposing animal is not rabid. Effective rabies-related animal control (RRAC) requirements enforced by animal control officers (ACO) are an alternative step to reduce the number of rabies exposures and postexposure prophylaxes. The purpose of this study was to describe the variability of requirements for RRAC by statutes and regulations across the United States.

Rabid foxes, rabid raccoons, and the odds of a human bite exposure, New York State, 1999-2007.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that rabid foxes are more likely to attack humans than are other rabid terrestrial animals. To examine this issue, we analyzed rabies surveillance data (1999-2007) maintained by the New York State Department of Health. Compared to rabid raccoons (Procyon lotor), foxes infected with raccoon variant rabies were more likely to bite during a human exposure incident (P<0.

Survey of New York veterinarians to assess needs for public health preparedness training.

Objective: Because most bioterrorist disease agents are zoonotic, veterinarians are important partners in preparedness. New York State is a prime port of entry and has a network of health and emergency management agencies for response. However, knowledge and participation by veterinarians has not yet been assessed.

What do Youth with Type 1 Diabetes Know about the HbA1c Test?

The purpose of this study was to examine youths' knowledge of the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test and glycemic control. Seventy youths (11-16 year olds) with type 1 diabetes were interviewed concerning their knowledge of the HbA1c test, health risks associated with particular HbA1c values, and their own glycemic goals. Results revealed that only 13% of youths accurately described the HbA1c test.

PLZF induces the spontaneous acquisition of memory/effector functions in T cells independently of NKT cell-related signals.

The broad complex, tramtrack, bric-a-brac-zinc finger (BTB-ZF) transcription factor promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) is required for development of the characteristic innate/effector functions of NKT cells. In this study, we report the characterization and functional analysis of transgenic mouse T cells with forced expression of PLZF. PLZF expression was sufficient to provide some memory/effector functions to T cells without the need for Ag stimulation or proliferation.

Neurocognitive functioning in preschool-age children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Neurocognitive functioning may be compromised in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The factor most consistently implicated in the long-term neurocognitive functioning of children with T1DM is age of onset. The pediatric literature suggests that glycemic extremes may have an effect on the neurocognitive functioning of children, but findings are mixed.

Terrestrial rabies and human postexposure prophylaxis, New York, USA.

During 1993-2002, cats accounted for 2.7% of rabid terrestrial animals in New York but for one third of human exposure incidents and treatments. Nonbite exposures and animals of undetermined rabies status accounted for 54% and 56%, respectively, of persons receiving rabies treatments.

Assessment of methods for prediction of human West Nile virus (WNV) disease from WNV-infected dead birds.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is currently the leading cause of arboviral-associated encephalitis in the U.S., and can lead to long-term neurologic sequelae.

Parent perspectives of diabetes management in schools.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate parent reports of the diabetes care support their children receive in school, their concerns about diabetes management in school, and their knowledge of federal laws that protect children with diabetes. In addition, the study explores ethnic and socioeconomic status differences in diabetes management in school.

Methods: An ethnically heterogeneous sample of 309 parents of children with diabetes was recruited from a community-based and a university-based diabetes outpatient clinic.

Risk-based cost modelling of oral rabies vaccine interventions for raccoon rabies.

Distribution of oral rabies vaccine (ORV) is an effective but costly strategy to control raccoon rabies. Because of high costs, ORV for raccoon rabies in the U.S.

The BTB-zinc finger transcriptional regulator PLZF controls the development of invariant natural killer T cell effector functions.

Invariant natural killer T cells (iNKT cells) have an innate immunity-like rapidity of response and the ability to modulate the effector functions of other cells. We show here that iNKT cells specifically expressed the BTB-zinc finger transcriptional regulator PLZF. In the absence of PLZF, iNKT cells developed, but they lacked many features of innate T cells.